This invention pertains to printers and more particularly to single element printers which are motor driven.
Of the many uses for printers there are two which predominate in number. They are keyboard controlled typewriters and signal controlled output devices for computers, communications terminals and the like. In fact, many such output devices utilize conventional electric typewriters. Of the conventional electric typewriters the single-element print head variety as exemplified by the IBM Selectric family have become the most popular. While such typewriters are adequate for many tasks, it should be realized they are highly complex machines containing innumerable mechanical drives, linkages and the like. This complexity results in an initially expensive machine. In addition, while a typewriter is satisfactory for use by a typist, it not only has a too low upper limit of speed when driven by a computer or the like, but also is not sufficiently rugged for the extended periods of continued use required in many computer, word processing and communications applications. Furthermore, such machines are noisy. These limitations arise from the mechanical complexity of presently available typewriters.